Report examines origins and nature of 'math anxiety'A report out today examines the factors that influence 'math anxiety' among primary and secondary school students, showing that teachers and parents may inadvertently play a role in a child's development of the condition, and that girls tend to be more affected than boys.

Defects help nanomaterial soak up more pollutant in less timeCleaning pollutants from water with a defective filter sounds like a non-starter, but a recent study by chemical engineers at Rice University found that the right-sized defects helped a molecular sieve soak up more perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS) in less time.

Rice U. study highlights danger of vitamin B12 deficiencyUsing roundworms, one of Earth's simplest animals, Rice University bioscientists have found the first direct link between a diet containing too little vitamin B12 and an increased risk of infection by two potentially deadly pathogens.

'Inactive' ingredients may not be, study findsMIT and Brigham and Women's Hospital researchers have found that nearly all pills and capsules contain some inactive ingredients that can cause allergic reactions or food intolerances in certain patients.

Machine learning tracks moving cellsScientists can now study the migration of label-free cells at unprecedented resolution, a feat with applications across biology, disease research, and drug development.

Coastal ecosystems suffer from upriver hydroelectric damsResearchers at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego and UC Riverside found that inland river dams can have highly destructive effects on the stability and productivity of coastline and estuarine habitats, which provide protection from storms, commercial fishery habitats, and belowground carbon storage.

Later abortion increased in Texas after House Bill 2A new study by the Texas Policy Evaluation Project (TxPEP) finds that the number of second-trimester abortions in Texas increased 13 percent after the implementation of the restrictive abortion law known as House Bill 2 (HB 2), even as the total number of abortions declined by 18 percent.

How marine snow cools the planetResearchers at the University of Sydney have mapped out how carbonate formations formed from 'marine snow' have helped regulate Earth's temperature over 120 million years.

The power of gratitude in the workplaceThe study shows that being thanked more often at work predicted better sleep, fewer headaches and healthier eating, because it improved nurses' work satisfaction.

Bat flight model can inspire smarter, nimbler dronesEngineers at the University of British Columbia have captured the full complexity of bat flight in a three-dimensional computer model for the first time, potentially inspiring the future design of better drones and other aerial vehicles.

Cardiovascular disease in ChinaThis study analyzed data from the Global Burden of Disease Study to look at the rate of cardiovascular disease (CVD) in China along with death and disability from CVD from 1990 to 2016.

Determining what binds to mucusThe human body is full of mucus. This viscous goo isn't just a nuisance that gets coughed up or sneezed out -- it can bind to drugs, toxins or microbes, potentially impacting human health.

Quasar jets confuse orbital telescopeAstrophysicists from the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, the Lebedev Physical Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences (LPI RAS), and NASA have found an error in the coordinates of active galactic nuclei measured by the Gaia space telescope, and helped correct it.

Avocado seed extract shows promise as anti-inflammatory compoundAn extract from the seeds of avocados exhibited anti-inflammatory properties in a laboratory study, according to Penn State researchers, and it represents a potential source for novel anti-inflammatory compounds that could be developed as a functional food ingredient or pharmaceuticals.

Reducing the burden of tuberculosis treatmentA research team led by MIT has developed a device that can lodge in the stomach and deliver antibiotics to treat tuberculosis, which they hope will make it easier to cure more patients and reduce health care costs.

Inside a tumor: Purple bacteria visualize 'big eaters'A team of scientists from the Helmholtz Zentrum Muenchen, the Juelich Research Center, the Technical University of Munich and the Heinrich Heine University Duesseldorf has shown that harmless purple bacteria (Rhodobacter) are capable of visualizing heterogeneity in tumors.

Breaking down bedbugsIt might seem like a crazy idea for landlords to tell potential tenants about past bedbug infestations, new research suggests it will pay off in the long run.

Tunas, sharks and ships at seaResearchers combine maps of marine predator habitats with satellite tracks of fishing fleets to identify regions where they overlap -- a step toward more effective wildlife management on the high seas.

Molecular patterns could better predict breast cancer recurrenceThe genetic and molecular make-up of individual breast tumours holds clues to how a woman's disease could progress, including the likelihood of it coming back after treatment, and in what time frame, according to a Cancer Research UK-funded study published in Nature.

Tracking urban gentrification, one building at a timeA new deep-mapping computer model can detect visual changes to individual properties, allowing researchers to more rapidly track gentrification within neighborhoods and cities, according to a study published March 13, 2019 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Lazar Ilic, Michael Sawada, and Amaury Zarzelli of the University of Ottawa, Canada.

The day the world burnedWhen UC Santa Barbara geology professor emeritus James Kennett and colleagues set out years ago to examine signs of a major cosmic impact that occurred toward the end of the Pleistocene epoch, little did they know just how far-reaching the projected climatic effect would be.

New evidence proves the work of UN agencies is effectiveAcademics led by Professor Lucie Cluver at Oxford University have shown how key services in lower and middle-income countries can contribute to multiple sustainable development goals (SDGs), even for the highest-risk children and adolescents.

Protected areas could help large herbivores bounce back after warLarge herbivore populations can substantially recover after war-induced declines, given that protected area management is provided, according to a study published March 13 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Marc Stalmans of Gorongosa National Park in Mozambique, and colleagues.

Most countries in sub-Saharan Africa not on track for under-5 mortality reduction goalThe relatively slow pace of neonatal and under-5 mortality reduction could prevent most countries in sub-Saharan Africa from achieving targets set in Sustainable Development Goal 3 (SDG-3) by 2030, according to a study published March 12 in the open-access journal PLOS Medicine by Iván Mejía-Guevara of Stanford University, USA and colleagues.

#517 Life in Plastic, Not FantasticOur modern lives run on plastic. It's in the computers and phones we use. It's in our clothing, it wraps our food. It surrounds us every day, and when we throw it out, it's devastating for the environment. This week we air a live show we recorded at the 2019 Advancement of Science meeting in Washington, D.C., where Bethany Brookshire sat down with three plastics researchers - Christina Simkanin, Chelsea Rochman, and Jennifer Provencher - and a live audience to discuss plastics in our oceans. Where they are, where they are going, and what they carry with them. Related links:...